A pioneering woman journalist and a sophisticated novelist, Sara Jeannette Duncan was one of the most important literary witnesses to the post-Confederation, pre-World War I era. Her intrepid spirit took her to all parts of the English-speaking world, and her close observation of those societies resulted in novels that show an understanding of fictional techniques possessed by few of her contemporaries.

Duncan was born on 22 December 1861 in Brantford, Ontario, to Charles and Jane Bell Duncan. Her father, who had immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1852, was a successful merchant, and the family home, still standing, testifies to prosperity. After attending school in Brantford, Duncan went on to the Toronto Normal School. Apparently, though trained to do so, she never taught for a sustained period of time.

Her semi-autobiographical article, "How an American Girl Became a Journalist" (collected in Selected Journalism, 1978), tells about Duncan's early years and her start...